Isteatob of said hag an



(No Model.) A. HAG'AN, D80d., g t 5 J. F. THOMS, Administrator.

GRAIN GA RDOOR MECHANISM FOR FREIGHT CARS.

No. 304,683. Patented Sept. 2, 1884.

Imremor.

J. A. HAGAN, DeodL,

2 Sheets Sheet 2. J. F. THOMS, Administrator. GRAIN'CAR DOOR MECHANISMFOR FREIGHT CARS.

(Nd Model.)

Patented Sept. 2, 1884.

Imrenior. John A Ha an NY PETLRS. Plroloilllwgmphcr. Washinglnn. lxcv Unrn' STATES ATENT Fr es.

JOHl\ A. HAGAN, OF THREE BIVERS, MICHIGAN, (JAMES F. THOMS ADMIN-ISTRATOR OF SAID HAGAN, DECEASED,) ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THE SHEFFIELDVELOOIPEDE CAR COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

GRAlN-CAR-DOOR MECHANISM FOR FREIGHT-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,683, datedSeptember 2, 1884.

Application filed February 11, 1884. (No model.)

.To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN A. HAGAN, of ThreeRivers, in the county of St. Joseph and State of Michigan, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Door Mechanism for Use inFreight-Oars, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of a portion of the inside of an ordinary box or freight car withmy improved door applied; Fig. 2, an end view of the door when closedand secured; Fig. 3, an end view of the door when raised; Fig. i, a planview of a portion of the door,

1 5 showing the manner of securing the door when closed, and thegrain-door guides. Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the upperportion of thedoor-hanger and a portion of the hanger-brace; Fig. 6, aview or" the lower portion of the hanger, the hanger-guide, and theconcavedstraps; Fig. 7, an enlarged perspective view of the door-hangerand hanger-brace, showing a formally different construction; and Fig. 8,an end view of the grain-door when 2 5 nearly open, the door-hanger,hanger-brace,

and door-rail being in section.

The object of my invention is to provide improved extra doors tobe usedin the better class of box or freight'cars, their use being to 0 closetightly the openings in the sides of the cars when they are used fortransporting grain; and my invention relates, particularly, to the classof grain-doors disclosed in my United States Patent No. 285,258-that isto say, to

3 5 grain-doors which rise up and slide to one side out of the way.

The grain-doors now in general use are often temporary structures, whichare put in while the car is being loaded with grain, and secured 40 bybeing nailed to the car-door posts. The preferred method of unloadingcars of grain 'is to shovel the grain through the car-door into a hopperarranged to receive it; but when these temporary doors are used theycannot 4 5 be removed conveniently, on account of being secured, asdescribed. Consequently, they are generally so broken up while beingremoved that they are unfit for further use, and when they are new theyare liable to be lost or stolen,

on account of not being secured to the car. These temporary doors,however, are often preferred, because when they are securely nailed tothe car-door posts no grain can leak and be lost, whereas with the formsof grain-doors now in use, other than the temporary doors, there isoften a serious loss of grain on account of the door not fitting in thegrooves in which it slides, or because it has grooved doorguides at oneend only, or because it is not properly secured when closed, so that itopens slightly by the jarring of the car when it is in motion, wherebymuch grain is lost. My improved grain-door is so constructed that whenclosed both its ends rest in guides that are absolutely grain-tight,(this tightness not being affected by any shrinkage of the lumber ofwhich the door may be made,) and the fastenings used to secure it whenclosed cannot be loos-= ened by the motion of the car, as will behereinafter more fully explained. I construct and apply my improvedextra doors so that they are permanently attached to the car, and aretherefore not liable to be lost or stolen, and yet are attached in sucha manner that when the cars are used for transporting other freight 7than grain these extra doors can be slid to one side, and neither thedoors nor their hangings will be in the way of loading or unloadingmiscellaneous freight, nor be liable to be injured by it.

My improvements are applicable to any kind of car in which grain can betransported, and may also be useful elsewhere than in cars.

The objects of my invention, therefore, are to provide a first-class andpermanent graindoor, and particularly, first, to so construct the doorthat when it is closed and secured it will be absolutely grain-tight;second, to so construct the door that when the car is loaded with grainit can be opened from the outside 0 and moved entirely out of the way;third, to so construct the door and its guides that should the doorshrink from being made of unseasoned lumber, neither its tightness norsecurity will be affected; fourth, to so construct the 5 door-hangingsthat when the door is closed outline in Fig. 1.

they secure itin place, so thatit cannot become loosened by the motionof the car; fifth, to so construct the door-hangings that they willsupport the grain-door out of the way of miscellaneous freight whengrain is not being trans ported; sixth, to so construct thedoor-hangings that they securely attach the grain-door to the car, sothat it cannot be lost or stolen.

My improved grain-door has a vertical and horizontal movement both in aplane parallel with the door-opening, and when it is closed it rests inand against metallic guides, which allow it to be operated easily, whilepreventing loss of grain. It is opened by raising it vertically, andwhen raised a distance equal to about its own height may, if desired, beslid to the side of the door-opening, where I provide that it may besecured entirely out of the way of ordinary freight.

Referring to the letters on the drawings, the grain-door B is preferablyconstructed with vertical end pieces, to which are securely nailed thematched sheathing forming the main portion of the door. This is furtherstrengthened by the diagonal braces shownin Fig. 1, the braces restingon a metallic lift similar .to that described in my said United Statespatent. The strip 2' forms a convenient hand-hold for raising the door;but the handheld may be nearer than illustrated to the lower edge of thedoor, which by preference rests on the ordinary metallic door-threshold.

The door-hanger A, preferably of round iron, rests on top of the door Bwhen it is closed, but engages with the metal hooks G G on the lowerportion of the door and sustains its weight when open, as shown by thedotted The upper ends of the hanger are hook-shaped and are permanentlyengaged with the metal door-rail D, on which they slide. The door-railis preferably a flat bar of iron, andis permanently secured above thedoor-opening, as shown in Fig. 1.

c is a brace, preferably of a flat bar of iron, between the upper endsof the door-hanger A. It lies immediately below the door-rail, and thusprevents thehanger from being unhooked from the rail.

Secured to the door, near its corners, are the hanger-guides ff, ofeither malleable iron or steel castings or forgings. Their upper endsare slotted to allow the door-hanger to swing inward sufficiently, sothat the door can be raised, and they also secure the door to thehanger, thus preventing the door from being removed from the car.

9 g are metallic bearing-straps with coneaved upper surfaces, as shownby Fi 8, in which the lower portion of the door-hanger rests when thedoor is closed and secured. They should be sufficiently elastic, so thatwhen the door-hanger has been placed in the position shown in Fig. 2 (itthen being held down by the brace e abutting against the door -rail D)some force is required to remove it, thereby preventing the door frombecoming loose by il c motion of the car, this motion making any form ofcam-fastening insecure.

A top end view of the grain-door guides is shown at h h, Fig. 4. Theyare preferably of wrought-iron rolled to shape. One is secured at eachend of the door, and they engage with similar pieces secured to thedoor-posts of the car, as shown.

The operation of my improved mechanism is as follows: Suppose it isdesired to open the door when it is closed and secured, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, the operator being in the car, the door-hanger'is firstpulled out of the concaved surfaces of the bearing-straps g g to theposition indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. The door may then beraised by the handhold 2', being guided vertically by the guides h handthe sides of the door-hanger. As the door is raised it passes behind oron the out side of the door-hanger, as shown by Fig. 8, and when nearlyat its full height the tops of the hanger-guides ffstrike the dependentportions 0 on the L-shaped ends of the brace c. This swings thedoor-hanger back to the vertical position and automatically engages thelower horizontal part of it with the hooks C O, as shown in Fig. 2, whenthe door thus suspended maybe slid to the position indicated by thedotted outline in Fig. 1, the bracket K retaining it securely in place.When the car is loaded with grain and it is desired to raise the doorfrom the outside, the door-hanger is pushed out of the eoncaves in thebearingstraps, as already explained, when, by means of a bar inserted inthe outer recess of the door-lift m, Fig. 1, as explained in my saidpatent, the grain-door may be raised sufficiently to allow a portion ofthe grain to run out, (the usual practice,) or it may be raised to itsfull height, the door-hanger then engaging automatically with the hooks,in the manner already explained, and permitting the door to bemoved onthe door-rail, so as to leave the door-opening entirely clear. To closethe door the order of operation is simply reversed.

In the ordinary service in which cars are used the grain-doors onlyrequire to be opened or closed at so considerable intervals that theexpense necessary to produce a movement as nearly automatic as would berequired in a machine is unwarranted, and therefore my improvedmechanism is only designed to insure that the grain will be carriedwithout loss, and that the door will be in place, ready for use whenrequired. To secure the latter, however, it is necessary to protect itagainst careless use, and the door-hanger, besides pre venting the doorfrom being removed from the car, securin g it in a convenient positionwhen open, and securing it absolutely grain-tight when closed, servesthe further purpose of protecting the upper edge of the door from beingcut away to allow the use of grain-spouts that have not been constructedat the proper height; but it does not obstruct the doorway, or interferewith the use of those that are ICS A properly constructed. The metallicdoorguides also, in addition to their allowing the door to be easilyoperated, while preventing the loss of grain, serve the further purposeof preventing the door from being nailed to the car-door postsa practicefound necessary with the form of grain-door fastenings generally used.

While I consider the construction just described the best, it would bepossible to make formal changes without departing from the spirit of myinvention such as arranging the door-hanger to secure the door when itis closed, and to protect its upper edge without either the door orhanger, or with only one of them, having the movements described, sothat I do not limit myself to the exact construction shown or described;but I recommend that construction as the best.

Having thus described my invention, wha I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the door, the hanger,the stationary support on which the hanger slides, and the guidessecured to the door that slide vertically on the hanger.

2. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the door, theswinging door-hanger, and guard that locks the door when closed, and theguides secured to the door through which the hanger extends.

3. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the grain-door havinga vertical or horizontal movement, a door-hanger having a horizontalmovement in a plane parallel with the door-opening, and metallic strapshaving concaved upper surfaces arranged to receive the door-hanger,substantially as described.

4. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the door, the hangerto which the door is connected, the guides on the door that slidevertically on the hanger, and the supports for holding the door in itselevated position.

5. The combination, substantially as set forth, of a grain-door having ahorizontal movement in a plane parallel with the dooropening, adoor-hanger having a-similar movement, devices for connecting the hangerto the door at the top and bottom thereof, and a door-rail securedwithin the car, and forming the support for thedoor-hanger. V

6. The combination, substantially as set forth, of a graindoor hanger, agrain-door k having a vertical movement in a plane par in a planeparallel with the door-opening, a

grain-door mechanism consisting of a doorrail secured within the car, adoor hanger or support which moves on the door-rail, and devices thatautomatically engage with and support the door when raised to its fullheight, and secureit when it is closed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 6th day ofFebruary, A. D. 1884.

JOHN A. HAGAN.

Witnesses:

L. B. Hanwoon, O. P. SLoTE.

